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Well, the only reason I'm posting this is because my cousin keeps yelling at me. She says that since my tank is bare bottom and that the turtles can see right through it that they're going crazy and then she gives me the whole this is so inhumane. What do you guys think? Can I keep it like that or should I put some paper on the bottom of my tank?

Honestly I think your cousin is the crazy one for thinking that it is inhumane, no offense of course. You can put some paper on the bottom of the tank (not inside the tank of course) but your turtles are honestly not going to mind not having one. Skip the trouble, it aint worth it.

I honestly think bare bottom tanks are more better looking, and easier to clean too!

Do your turtles run into the bottom head first a lot?

When we first got the tank they used to do that, but it's been a few months and they don't do it anymore. So yeah, I've never thought it was bad for them, but I just needed the proof from the experts to throw at her.

Tell your cousin to zipit.

Bare bottom tanks are not at all harmful for turtles, if anything they provide a cleaner and safer environment for them. Not only is a bare bottom tank much easier to clean since you can see any waste that is gathering on the bottom, but unlike many particle substrates (sand, gravel etc) there is absolutely NO risk of impaction.

I keep a bare bottom in all of my tanks and have had no problems at all.

My tank's bottom is completely bare except for a few river stones. If anything, it'd be inhumane to fill it up with small rocks and pebbles just for it to be aesthetically pleasing...

If having a bare bottom tank is inhumane then housing a turtle in an aquarium must be pretty inhumane too since turtles often forget they are even in an aquarium and try to swim through the glass. Did your cousin think it was wrong to keep the turtle in aquarium too?

That's what I thought, the only reason I don't get mad at her is because I know she truly wants the best for the animals, she's kind of crazy with her pets, you know, thinking they're sending messages to her when really they're not. lol

I think there are a couple of pictures of stones that people have printed out and taped to the back or the outside bottom. Bare bottom is fine... they can see through the sides, so what does she think of that?

RESowner34 wrote:Well, the only reason I'm posting this is because my cousin keeps yelling at me. She says that since my tank is bare bottom and that the turtles can see right through it that they're going crazy and then she gives me the whole this is so inhumane. What do you guys think? Can I keep it like that or should I put some paper on the bottom of my tank?

What's even more inhumane is to have a bunch of rocks in the tank where the turtle waste can gather & make the tank stink (I have had this situation & it SUCKS since you are CONSTANTLY changing the water.....what a pain the butt!). I have a bare bottom (with just a few river rocks for Sheba to kick around) 90-gallon tank & my BIG turtle honestly never seems to mind. She just swims along, hangs out, completely oblivious (unless she sees that I have food in my hand). I swear if she was any less stressed, she would be sleeping!

Bare bottom doesn't stress turtles. Really.

On the other hand, an aquatic frog does better with a tank with rocks on the bottom because they have a tendency to change their skin color to match their surroundings. So in that case, it would be less-stressful for a FROG to have a tank bottom with something on it (river rocks work great because then he can pretend he is hiding in them).

Actually, I used to have a bunch of river rocks in the tank. Like everyone else says, it is a pain to clean. When I got my stand for my tank though, it had a little recess under the bottom of the tank. I ended up putting a bunch of the rocks in that recess, and it turned out pretty cool. You can see them from the top of the tank, but not the side, so I'm pretty sure the turtles can see them they just can't poop in them.

this is just funny....inhumane?! haha..just..wow

Indeed. I suppose it would be inhumane if say instead of glass you had a mirror with spikes on it.

LOL! ... Ouch!

LOL.

I recently tossed about 2 cups if playsand in the bottom of the tank. Just enough for a dusting but not to cover it all. It is easy to clean and Kokoro does not stir it up at all. When I do tank cleaning and such it takes only about 5 mins to calm down and I usually hide some veggies or a treat in the sand then cover it over. Kokoro will spend hours sniffing the sand to find the goodies.